Weekly Roundup!

This weekend, beginning with this very post, I’m launching a brand new feature to Almost Epic. I’m calling it, very creatively mind you, the Weekly Roundup!

What is it all about, you ask? In an effort to try and keep myself constantly posting original content to this here blog, I’m taking at least five (maybe more!) really cool, really interesting, or maybe even really provocative things here along with my opinion or thoughts on them. I’m essentially rounding up everything that’s on my mind and compiling it into one big info-dump. Then I’m sliding that info-dump your way! Sound good? Cool! Just like #WeekendCoffeeShare, you can find all these types of posts going forward in #WeeklyRoundup!

P.S. You may encounter affiliate links in these or other posts of mine. Clicking on these or joining services that they link to can benefit me or Almost Epic directly. But no worries: Absolutely all opinions and thoughts are genuine and my own!

This will really only apply to WordPress nerds such as myself, but the new Gutenberg editor is coming. And it’s coming soon. So soon that I feel like it’s practically breathing down my neck.

I typically like new features in stuff that I like. I’m pretty bleeding edge about it, in fact. Not to the point where I like to participate in long-term beta testing or anything, but I like to check them out as soon as they are released to the general public. I like to be cool and hip and with it, I guess. But so far, I am not cool and hip and with Gutenberg.

Automattic made Gutenberg available as a plugin sometime ago during its development process. I took the opportunity to download it a couple of different times and play around with it, and I’m not sure that I love it. Perhaps I’m just so used to the classic editor that change seems scary. I’m the kind of nerd that’s worried it’ll force me to change the entire format of Almost Epic’s posts and pages, along with any other WordPress project I might take on.

The notice that has gone up on the WordPress dashboard in this latest update mentions that a “Classic Editor” plugin will be available once Gutenberg becomes default. I think that’s a great idea on Automattic’s part — I’m sure that I’m not the only one who hasn’t fallen in love with it yet — but I’m not sure that I want to grow to depend on an add-on that might not even remain in consistent development after Gutenberg takes flight. I know that I’m going to have to take the time to learn to love Gutenberg. Right now though, this one is still simmering on the backburner. I’ll circle back eventually.

I don’t want to get too caught up into the emotions of all of this. Because I’ll wind up bringing this entire introductory post to a new site feature down with all my “feels.” But let’s just say that this story very nearly had me in tears.

I try to remain upbeat and optimistic, even when I try to get my April Ludgate on and claim to hate the world. But sometimes, there’s good reason not to like this world. This is one of them. Why’s life gotta be so cruel sometimes?

There’s something to be said about the emotions of our fellow earth-dwelling creatures though, huh? Hopefully some kind of beauty in the sadness. Let’s leave it at that.

As I have gotten older, I’ve come to realize that I’m a very lazy human being. It’s something that my family has told me practically my entire life, but it wasn’t until the past handful of years that I realized that it wasn’t just something they were saying to disparage or motivate me to do something. They were legitimately just pointing out an observation. But it’s cool, I don’t take offense from it because it takes a couch potato to know one. That, and I’m just living my best life, right?!

Anyway, I’m all about convenience, right? So what’s up with GrubHub and Prime Now not delivering in my area? It’s a huge bummer! Thankfully, I’ve discovered the power of Shipt! For the low, low price of $14 a month, I can get on my smartphone and have a personal shopper head on down the street to either Meijer or Target and do the shopping for me! Sound like a dream? It gets better! They won’t only do the shopping for me, they’ll also deliver it right to my door! And they give me text updates the entire time! In fact, the last text on my phone right now is from my Shipt shopper Dana telling me that she’s on her way! Say goodbye to ever having another nightmare trip to the grocery!

But Wait!

While I’m on the topic of convenience, let me tell you about another app I recently unearthed called Long Game. This idea behind this app is to make stashing money away in a savings account super fun! All you do is connect the app to a bank account and start putting away savings. Every time you save your money, you earn coins to play in a virtual lottery, slot machines, and other games where you have the opportunity to earn up to $1 million on top of what you already saved! You’re never risking your own money so it isn’t gambling, and best of all, the Long Game’s savings accounts are FDIC insured, so they’re secure, too.

If you haven’t already joined Shipt or the Long Game apps, be sure to get on it here for some extra bonuses!

A few weeks ago, I finally completed my very first knitting project! It is a soft, thick and lovely handspun scarf for my very dear friend, Jean. I picked up the pattern by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for free over on Ravelry is very beginner-friendly, so if any of the rest of you are interested in learning how to knit or looking for an easy side project, this could definitely be the one! I enjoyed the simplicity of it so much, in fact, that I’ve already started a lighter, lacy-feeling version for another friend!

For anyone interested in the more nitty-gritty details of it all, for Jean’s scarf that I have pictured here, I used one entire cake of Bernat Pop! yarn in the Blue Blaze colorway. And I did it all with just some standard 5.5 mm knitting needles that I got with my knitting kit last year.

It took me about a month to complete from start to finish. I probably could have churned it out faster than that, but I’m still very much a beginner myself and I was still learning for approximately half of this project. I say “approximately” because it really did feel like about the middle portion of the scarf that my mind fully clicked into place the repetition of the stitches in the pattern. It was kind of weird. I can’t wait until Jean finally gets hold of this scarf because I’m interested to see if she can tell me which end was the beginning and which was the end. There are a few mistakes here and there and everywhere throughout, but I’m told that all great hand-knit pieces have mistakes here and there. It’s better to just embrace them if you can’t fix them!

That just might be some kind of sage metaphor for life, honestly.

What’s got you thinking, talking, or feeling this week? Leave it all in the comments below!

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3 Replies to “Weekly Roundup!”

I want to BE a personal shopper here in Shelbyville. Pretty sure there isn’t enough money in it to quit my day job though. The WalMart greeters here sit in rocking chairs, so maybe I should aspire to that job next!

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